iPhoto Fears

[Pomeroy]

I think you got it
Click on the Smart Album for the Park you want to see and if you have Date set as the Sort then all in that Album will show in order by the metadata assigned by your camera. Even if you just Clicked on the whole Library where all of your 1,000's of photos show at once you could scroll by Date to the group for that date. The Date shows in the middle of the thumbnails as you scroll. One good thing about iPhoto is if you don't like the way you have it set up you can change it to do things a different way without messing up your photos. When I first started to use iPhoto I imported all my photos at one time, I like, you thought " now what, I got a real mess on my hands" and I only have a bout 2,000 photos at that time. But with a little thought I was able to get it all organized and into Smart Folders with Keywords in less that an hour. I have since made some changes and added more Smart Albums and Keywords and found out how easy it is to find any photo I want in just a few seconds. We travel a lot so I use States as smart Albums for the most part and the first keyword I assign to new photos is the State. If I import a photo of a family member the first Keyword is Family, then maybe Kids or Grandkids. You can add Keywords as you find a need for them or even delete them if you want.

 

[Zmmin3]

Thank you, you have been most helpful

one more question as a finish up (edited, I think I found my answer with this following pic I found over on apple support)

This is kinda how I was hoping I could organize my photos:

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

I would add one word to your desire for a hierarchical folder structure in albums: I have found keywording to be the most powerful organizing tool in iPhoto. By creating an extensive list of keywords, and zealously keywording all new additions to my library, I am able to quickly find photos on correlating topics.

For instance, I can instantly bring up all photos that have the keywords "wildlife" and "rivers" - and only those photos with both thos keywords appear. I can view those by date, and then search by some other sub-descriptor, such as he name of a particular river (which I usually embed in the event title or the description).

When trying to find a few images amongst thousands, this is an amazingly powerful tool.

 

[Pomeroy]

Thank you, you have been most helpful

one more question as a finish up (edited, I think I found my answer with this following pic I found over on apple support)

This is kinda how I was hoping I could organize my photos:

This Picture is from an older version of iPhoto. You can't put folders in folders to make subfolders in iPhoto 09.. That defeats the whole purpose of Smart Folders. The only reason I use a regular folder is to hold some photos that I want to do something special to and they happen to be in different Albums, otherwise I can't find any reason to use Folders in iPhoto... Smart Albums plus Keywords is the best way I have found to organize my photos.
The only Smart Folder I see in that picture is inside of another folder "Keyword SA (21)" and I don't understand the name or what purpose it would serve there. iPhoto will make it's on folders for things like Slideshows, calendars, Mobile Me or Flicker as you need them.

I said you can't put Folders in Folders,,, WRONG,,, You can put Folders or Albums inside Folders, but you can't put ALBUMS IN ALBUMS

 

[Zmmin3]

okay I will try it with a view folders I have tonight and see what happens.

 

[Pomeroy]

okay I will try it with a view folders I have tonight and see what happens.

I think you will like iPhoto once you get the hang of it..
You can add a lot of different conditions to make Smart Folders do a lot. You can change " Match all" to "Match any" and different photos will show up. Faces and Places also help in organizing and finding photos.. Geo Tagging works good and so does Faces once you teach it who is who.
I hope you enjoy working with iPhoto and don't forget, it won't mess with your photos you have in Folders now.. If you mess up when you start setting up iPhoto, you can always start over and not worry about the original photos you have in folder they are still there just like you left them.

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Geo Tagging works good

Curious Pomeroy - do you use a camera that embeds GPS data, or are you using a datalogger? My 40D does not tag GPS data, and I've been considering a datalogger - interested in what others are doing.

 

[Pomeroy]

Curious Pomeroy - do you use a camera that embeds GPS data, or are you using a datalogger? My 40D does not tag GPS data, and I've been considering a datalogger - interested in what others are doing.

We have a Garmin GPS that we use on the road, but I don't even use it to Geo Tag.. I just do it from iPhoto and let it take care of it for me. I still have a long ways to go but I work on it a little at a time. I got started that way and haven't taken time to try any other way.

 

[Zmmin3]

I think you will like iPhoto once you get the hang of it..

Thanks for all your help. Although now, checking out Iphoto is going to have to wait.
This 2nd refurb is going back. Too much of brightness gradient.

 

[durhamj]

new to iMac and iphoto

Wow, a lot of information here in this thread.

Can someone tell me if I am understanding this correctly: I am one of those guys going from PC to Mac.. and have 10 years worth of photos sorted by year, then subfolder(ed) by client. (perhaps 15 clients per year.) I am planning on putting only the last three years on the iMac. I believe I can copy the 2007, 2008 and 2009 directories, and their subs, into the my documents area on the iMac. then import the individual subs into iPhoto, giving them unique event names. As I understand it , I can have iPhoto copy the imported photos into its library (thus have two copies of ever image) or have iPhoto reference the original from its library.
Is that true?

2nd, If I edit the images outside of iPhoto (Photoshop-CS3, rename, resize, or change names) will iPhoto be able to reindex and import the changes made to the subfolder of client photos??

 

[Pomeroy]

Wow, a lot of information here in this thread.

Can someone tell me if I am understanding this correctly: I am one of those guys going from PC to Mac.. and have 10 years worth of photos sorted by year, then subfolder(ed) by client. (perhaps 15 clients per year.) I am planning on putting only the last three years on the iMac. I believe I can copy the 2007, 2008 and 2009 directories, and their subs, into the my documents area on the iMac. then import the individual subs into iPhoto, giving them unique event names. As I understand it , I can have iPhoto copy the imported photos into its library (thus have two copies of ever image) or have iPhoto reference the original from its library.
Is that true?

2nd, If I edit the images outside of iPhoto (Photoshop-CS3, rename, resize, or change names) will iPhoto be able to reindex and import the changes made to the subfolder of client photos??

One of the hardest things to do with iPhoto us to stop thinking in terms of Folders and start thinking in terms of a data base.. Like what info you have and how you want to access it and how do you want it displayed.. When this concept starts to sink in you will start to see just how amazing iPhoto can be..
I think I would start by doing what you are thinking, but drop the photos into the Pictures Folder on your iMac. Then after you import them into Events and name the Event you have just started.. I use Events as just a way to get my photos into iPhoto, from there I assign Keywords, Descriptions and Rate them. After you setup some Smart Albums and Keywords (Client's name maybe) and you will find things will start to fall into place. And you can add Keywords in batches and not have to do it one photo at a time..
#2 You can setup Photoshop or any photo editor as your default external editor if you want, then when you save a photo it will go back into iPhoto with the new edits. I wouldn't do any editing outside iPhoto. If you want more than one copy of a photo with different edits you can click on " Photos > Duplicate" give it a new name, work on a fresh copy in photoshop without leaving iPhoto and save back to iPhoto. You may find that you won't want to do as much resizing as you think if you use the Email button from inside iPhoto, it will take care of that for you.
I use "Name Mangler" to batch name my photos before I import them into iPhoto. I know some people go from camera directly into iPhoto, but I go from camera into a "New Pictures" folder on my desktop and weed out any junk I know I don't want, from there I use Name Mangler to assign a name in batches. After the naming I import to iPhoto and name the new Event and start adding Keywords. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but really only take a few minutes to take care of a 100 photos or more.

 

[durhamj]

how do manage archiving

I am ones of those transitioning from a PC to an iMac. When it comes to my clients photos I separate them by year, then subdirectory by the clients name.... Since my storage space is limited, I would normally remove images older than three years old from the PC, but they are readily available on the Dlink-NAS.
How you archive your old work in iPhoto?? I can see in a couple of years the time, that I will not need all the images on the internal hard drive.. Is it best to set up libraries by year?
Or should I just let one library grow while deleting the old subdirectories from the the int. drive.
I realize iPhoto will give me warning that the originals can not be found, but can't those directories be copied back in to there original location in the hierarchy?

 

[Pomeroy]

I am ones of those transitioning from a PC to an iMac. When it comes to my clients photos I separate them by year, then subdirectory by the clients name.... Since my storage space is limited, I would normally remove images older than three years old from the PC, but they are readily available on the Dlink-NAS.
How you archive your old work in iPhoto?? I can see in a couple of years the time, that I will not need all the images on the internal hard drive.. Is it best to set up libraries by year?
Or should I just let one library grow while deleting the old subdirectories from the the int. drive.
I realize iPhoto will give me warning that the originals can not be found, but can't those directories be copied back in to there original location in the hierarchy?

iPhoto Library Manager may be just what you are looking for, I use it to keep 2 libraries' I can switch between.
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

 

[durhamj]

iphoto takes up some space

http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

Looks interesting, I'll download a little later...

I was just experimenting with iphoto and libraries and found that it stores the edited version of the image in the \Modified directory of the library. (Even when using an external editor, Ps3.)

Do you know of a way to have iPhoto overwrite the originally version of the image? I would rather not have two versions of the same image on the internal drive...
iphoto has some great features, but I would like to limit the overhead.

 

[ajpl]

I think the hardest part of using iPhoto is giving up the idea of Folders... I know it was for me.. In a few years you will forget what year it was that you took the photo you want to find, was it 2006 or 2007 ? The you have to start dig in folders and subfolders and scrolling around looking.. In iPhoto with just a few key strokes it will find any photo you want...

Only if you are very meticulous and put in lots of hard work adding keywords and placing shots into smart albums/collections etc.
The best way is to use dated and description labelled folders and then add keywords/metadata on top of that. Only the naive will consign his/her photos to a database and dismiss good folder structure as a basis for their organisation. The chances of iPhoto or even Apple existing in 20/30/40 years times is anything but certain. iPhoto or any programme still being around in 10 years is very doubtful, judging by past history of software, even the biggest companies can disappear, just look at IBM and how dominant they once were and how insignificant they now are in many areas. Or even Encyclopedia Britannica whose business was simply destroyed by Encarta, which was in its turn finished off by Wikipedia a few years later. People liked to say "safe as houses" and look how that wrecked the world's economy and helped lead to the collapse of many long established businesses.
My folders and files can be looked though and keywords searched by any appropriate software and any OS, which means I can change OS if I want to [I already use Win + OSX side by side], I can change my photo software if I want to.
Apple software, like iTunes, iPhoto is designed to trap you in it and due to that constraint, I simply do not like to use them in the first place. I buy music I can play on any device, grief imagine if you bought a CD/Cassette/vinyl and could only play it on one brand of player - say a JVC CD player, there would have been an outcry. EDIT iTunes, tracks are now DRM free! Hooray. But if you bought DRM tunes, you cannot just upgrade to DRM free version.

 

[ajpl]

I am ones of those transitioning from a PC to an iMac. When it comes to my clients photos I separate them by year, then subdirectory by the clients name.... Since my storage space is limited, I would normally remove images older than three years old from the PC, but they are readily available on the Dlink-NAS.
How you archive your old work in iPhoto?? I can see in a couple of years the time, that I will not need all the images on the internal hard drive.. Is it best to set up libraries by year?
Or should I just let one library grow while deleting the old subdirectories from the the int. drive.
I realize iPhoto will give me warning that the originals can not be found, but can't those directories be copied back in to there original location in the hierarchy?

Do not use iPhoto for professional work. It's a simplistic programme which is great for many reasons, but you really need to use a robust DAM [Digital Asset Management] system for this sort of thing and your current folder method is fine, do not give that up. Add metadata searching to that and you have best of both worlds. Databases can get unwieldy as they get biggewr and can corrupt where you lose an awful lot of your information [i.e. work], for that reason I never store data only in database, it is always with file and as a result easily duplicated/backed up/archived.
For instance you could keep backups of your clients images on individual DVDs or BluRays disk and all information is there, with Databases you will need to back entire DB up, which can be an issue.
Aperture is more professional than iPhoto, but is still just a DB. I prefer to use LR and Bridge so I have a DB and a FileBrowser working together, both systems have advantages over the other as using just one is simply limiting. Metadata searches and collections/albums can also be done with File Browsers.

Oh and the biggest improvement you can make to using OSX is to ditch the abyssmal and underpowered Finder and use PathFinder [Demo video] and Default FolderX [Review + Video] as Finder is a wretchedly awful piece of software. Even better use the incredibly pwerful Directory Opus in Windows, via Fusion/Parallels to manage files on your Mac as you will save a huge amount of time. For example moving some files and deciding which duplicates to keep/overwrite duplicates took 2 minutes with DOpus, the same thing took best part of a day with Finder. Talking folders with tens of thousands of images here. Syncing Programmes like the excellent ChronoSync provide a different function by the way.

 

[ajpl]

I would add one word to your desire for a hierarchical folder structure in albums: I have found keywording to be the most powerful organizing tool in iPhoto. By creating an extensive list of keywords, and zealously keywording all new additions to my library, I am able to quickly find photos on correlating topics.

For instance, I can instantly bring up all photos that have the keywords "wildlife" and "rivers" - and only those photos with both thos keywords appear. I can view those by date, and then search by some other sub-descriptor, such as he name of a particular river (which I usually embed in the event title or the description).

When trying to find a few images amongst thousands, this is an amazingly powerful tool.

Which as I mentioned above requires a lot of very hard work to make work well. A lot of work. There's a chap who shoots stock images for Alamy, his wife works full time just keywording them.
Keywording also struggles when you shoot the same subject repeatedly [I've been documented one particular event for many years now and have 13 weeks of 12hr+ days of shooting] as you stull have thousands of images to choose from. I find some things easier in that body of work to find by date and labe,l than I do by keyword. Mainly as I do not have a spare couple of months to keyword as thoroughly as it should be done.
Also [and this is the gig gotcha for me], you have to be able to remember the the relevant keyword for it to work. Imagine searching for a chap whose name you forget, at a place you are unsure of. I forget names of people I know really well at times, but if you look through a list of folders, you may then recognise the name/place/event.
Some software has a heirachical list of the keywords, which you can use as an aide memoire in those circumstances. As if designed properly [which takes time and effort], you can use it much like a folder system, wher you dig down through the layers. That's much how libraries do it and they need to be efficient, though limiting to ten classes per level is too restrictiv I feel for photography.

 

[147798]

ajpl -- you sound very evangelical about your passionate dislike of iPhoto. Thanks for your strongly stated views. I, for one, feel cuffed on the side of the head and will now retreat to lick my wounds.

For high volume of photos, I wouldn't think iPhoto would work well, but for many consumers it's just fine. Is the OP taking photos at the rate you are? I don't think we know from this thread. Also, if you are a pro, and using RAW, iPhoto is not at all a great RAW developer.

btw -- keywording is not at all hard in iPhoto. Not at all. Not in the slightest. Easy as pie. Easier than Lightroom (which I use and love). Quick as a bunny.

If you are shooting "13 weeks of 12hr+ days of shooting" then you likely need some kind of help, whether you are keywording or not.

I think we can safely say, though, that you neither like nor trust iPhoto. This conclusion is clear as day. pure as the driven snow. obvious as the nose on your (or my) face. It's just that not everyone is shooting 13 weeks of 12+ hours. iPhoto is certainly not supportive of that workflow, but then again if you are shooting at those volumes, you probably already know this and wouldn't be asking about iPhoto on the macrumors forum, I would think.

 

[durhamj]

Do not use iPhoto for professional work. It's a simplistic programme which is great for many reasons, but you really need to use a robust DAM [Digital Asset Management] system for this sort of thing and your current folder method is fine, do not give that up. Add metadata searching to that and you have best of both worlds. Databases can get unwieldy as they get biggewr and can corrupt where you lose an awful lot of your information [i.e. work], for that reason I never store data only in database, it is always with file and as a result easily duplicated/backed up/archived.
For instance you could keep backups of your clients images on individual DVDs or BluRays disk and all information is there, with Databases you will need to

thank you for the reply.... "Enlightening", I do like the image browsing functionality of iPhoto, but I like my own directory structure too.... I will also look into other Brigde products to see how they compare to iPhoto.

Thank you so much

 

[jons]

Printing blow-ups?

Would be ironic seeing how his name is Pyrotechnic.

 

[canoeman]

Glad you have settled in and gotten started with iPhoto, it is a great application and has steadily improved over the years. I personally use Aperture for my main program, but iPhoto does some things that Aperture won't do, like handle video clips. It is also easier for my wife to use without the large learning curve of Aperture (or other programs). I agree that iPhoto will do almost all of the things you described wanting to do. I am assuming you are a hobbyist like most of the rest of us.

A couple thoughts on keywords. The first one is discipline yourself to do them as you first import; it is by far the best organizational tool for finding things. It is especially useful for programs like iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom, and perhaps some others that allow you to search your whole photo collection at once, rather than searching within each of dozens or hundreds of individual folders. That is the weakness of browsers for locating things.

The second thought is to give some thought as to how you will organize your keywords, both short-term and long-term. It's good not to become too OCD with the structure. For example, it's possible to create a keyword for every member of your family, but in time you realize that Aunt Mary only has two photos and takes up one of your visible keyword slots. It is easier to do a generic keyword like "Family" or "Friends" and apply it to every photo as you import it. In the future, you can then do a search of "Family" to pull all them up and maybe add "Myself" and "Spouse" (using the real name, of course, unless you want a severe bruising). It is much easier to divide and add to a large category than it is to keep track of too many small ones. You make that decision when the category gets too large to be handled easily: it will become obvious when that is.

Other things I have done are use "Event" (keyword, not the import file structure) and subcategories (keywords) like "Birthday", "Party", "Christmas", etc. It becomes easy to use a smart folder for a year, for instance, and then pull up keywords for what you are really looking for. Everyone has different types of photos they are keeping track of and your list will be different from mine, from ... But plan in for simple expansion in the future.

Elsewhere in this forum there was a discussion some months ago on organization, you probably can find it by searching on my username, but there were some good thoughts expressed in that thread.

Have fun! Bill

 

[ajpl]

ajpl -- you sound very evangelical about your passionate dislike of iPhoto. Thanks for your strongly stated views. I, for one, feel cuffed on the side of the head and will now retreat to lick my wounds.

Don't forget to take an aspirin too!

btw -- keywording is not at all hard in iPhoto. Not at all. Not in the slightest. Easy as pie. Easier than Lightroom (which I use and love). Quick as a bunny.

It may be easy to add words, but the effort of doing thoroughly and every time you add images is what is hard, no matter how easy the programme maybe.

I think we can safely say, though, that you neither like nor trust iPhoto. This conclusion is clear as day. pure as the driven snow. obvious as the nose on your (or my) face. It's just that not everyone is shooting 13 weeks of 12+ hours. iPhoto is certainly not supportive of that workflow, but then again if you are shooting at those volumes, you probably already know this and wouldn't be asking about iPhoto on the macrumors forum, I would think.

iPhoto is fine for snapshooters and is better at some things than Aperture or LR, but it you want to properly manage one's work, use something a lot more robust and a method that will work fine on different software in 20 years time. Trapping yourself in any one piece of software for organising/finding your photos is digging a large pit for you to drop yoursel into, years down the line. Which is why I advise against programmes that effectively lock you in, like iTunes/iPhoto unless you are very careful. And if you are that careful, you wouldn't use them in the first place.

 

[ajpl]

A couple thoughts on keywords. The first one is discipline yourself to do them as you first import; it is by far the best organizational tool for finding things. It is especially useful for programs like iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom, and perhaps some others that allow you to search your whole photo collection at once, rather than searching within each of dozens or hundreds of individual folders. That is the weakness of browsers for locating things.

Bridge is a Browser and can search by Metadata and do smart collections/collections and is much better than LR for some things like filtering folders. Though not as fast at finding say all the PSDs in al your folders.

The second thought is to give some thought as to how you will organize your keywords, both short-term and long-term. It's good not to become too OCD with the structure. For example, it's possible to create a keyword for every member of your family, but in time you realize that Aunt Mary only has two photos and takes up one of your visible keyword slots. It is easier to do a generic keyword like "Family" or "Friends" and apply it to every photo as you import it. In the future, you can then do a search of "Family" to pull all them up and maybe add "Myself" and "Spouse" (using the real name, of course, unless you want a severe bruising). It is much easier to divide and add to a large category than it is to keep track of too many small ones. You make that decision when the category gets too large to be handled easily: it will become obvious when that is.

Very good advice for the person who doesn't take too many photos and also for those who accumulate images as a starting point.

Other things I have done are use "Event" (keyword, not the import file structure) and subcategories (keywords) like "Birthday", "Party", "Christmas", etc. It becomes easy to use a smart folder for a year, for instance, and then pull up keywords for what you are really looking for. Everyone has different types of photos they are keeping track of and your list will be different from mine, from ... But plan in for simple expansion in the future.

You can also do the same thing for 'Places'. But to plan for the future you have to understand the basics of how it works before you start. Use a piece of paper and sketch out various major categories and sub categories and then add detail as Bill suggested as you go along. Major categories could be People, Places, Events, Work, Locations...
For Locations you can have interior or exterior, then you could do attic or cellar and so forth.
For Places you can cascade down through Continent, Country, State, County, City, Town, Village, Local Area, Street Name or specific location like home, university, park, nightclub etc.
Whatever you use for your keywording, it has to make sense to you.

 

[147798]

Don't forget to take an aspirin too!


It may be easy to add words, but the effort of doing thoroughly and every time you add images is what is hard, no matter how easy the programme maybe.

iPhoto is fine for snapshooters and is better at some things than Aperture or LR, but it you want to properly manage one's work, use something a lot more robust and a method that will work fine on different software in 20 years time. Trapping yourself in any one piece of software for organising/finding your photos is digging a large pit for you to drop yoursel into, years down the line. Which is why I advise against programmes that effectively lock you in, like iTunes/iPhoto unless you are very careful. And if you are that careful, you wouldn't use them in the first place.

I refuse to live my life in fear of 20 years from now.

Keywording is easy -- command-click on 6 photos, hit "m" for mom (or whatever), done. Easy peasey. If at some future time I have to move my photos out of iPhoto, that's a weekend project, and it will lead me to relive some wonderful memories. It's not that daunting.

Now, processing RAW -- no, not in iPhoto thank you very much. But after I'm done processing in Lightroom, the RAW gets backed up, and the jpgs all go into iPhoto for easy retrieval, book creation, facebook posting, etc.

It's simple, it's easy and it's fun (a heck of a lot funner than managing folders). It's all I could ask of an application.

It's a shame some feel they need to scare others away from a great little application.

 

[KettyKrueger]

Sorry to dig up this old thread.

I'm in the process or evaluating the way I work with my pictures. I too hate that iPhoto doesn't embed the data (unless you export, but you can't export the original file with metadata).

I currently rename and geotag my pictures before importing them into iPhoto. I've recently relised that my method of naming pictures was stupid and didn't easy allow to add more pictures from the same day/topic, etc. I essentially placed a sequential number after each picture e.g. The Park 01, The Park 02, etc. But if I added more pictures later from my iPhone or the wife's iPhone they wouldn't be ordered properly (in Finder), same if I decided the delete a picture. So basically all my pictures are now named like this....20090715 131212 The Park. That way, they are all in order and I can delete add pictures easily without affecting the order.

Anyway, back on topic, I've decided to restart my iPhoto Library, now that all my pictures are correctly named. Would it be a good idea to keep a spare copie of my pictures folder, or is it safe to delete my pictures once they are copied into iPhoto? I normally copy all my pictures to iPhoto and also have a spare copy but I can't justify keeping the spares around anymore as I don't have much space left!!

I'd like to add Keywords before importing into iPhoto, can anyone suggest a decent program for this? I'd obviously like the keywords to be embedded.

Thanks